Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 172 / Thursday, September 6, 2007 / Notices 51267 

the Czech Republic, or Pakistan in the 

field of intellectual property rights and 

the effect of the acts, policies, and 

practices of Brazil, the Czech Republic, 

or Pakistan on U.S. industry. Comments 

should be as detailed as possible and 

should provide all necessary 

information for assessing the effect of 

any acts, policies, and practices of 

Brazil, the Czech Republic, or Pakistan. 

Any comments that include quantitative 

loss claims should be accompanied by 

the methodology used in calculating 

such estimated losses. 

Comments must be in English. No 

submissions will be accepted via postal 

service mail. Documents should be 

submitted as either WordPerfect, MS 

Word, .pdf, or text (.TXT) files. 

Supporting documentation submitted as 

spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro 

Pro or Excel files. All comments and 

supporting documentation by USTR 

will be made available to the public 

through electronic or other means. A 

submitter requesting that information 

contained in a comment be treated as 

confidential business information must 

certify that such information is business 

confidential and would not customarily 

be released to the public by the 

submitter. A non-confidential version of 

the comment must also be provided. For 

any document containing business 

confidential information, the file name 

of the business confidential version 

should begin with the characters ‘‘BC-’’, 

and the file name of the public version 

should begin with the character ‘‘P-’’. 

The ‘‘P-’’ or ‘‘BC-’’ should be followed 

by the name of the submitter. 

Submissions should not include 

separate cover letters; information that 

might appear in a cover letter should be 

included in the submission itself. To the 

extent possible, any attachments to the 

submission should be included in the 

same file as the submission itself, and 

not as separate files. 

DATES: 

Submissions must be received on or 

before 10 a.m. on Monday, October 15, 

2007. 

All comments should be addressed to 

Jennifer Choe Groves, Director for 

Intellectual Property and Innovation 

and Chair of the Special 301 Committee, 

Office of the United States Trade 

Representative, and sent (i) 

Electronically, to FR0606@ustr.eop.gov 

(please note, ‘‘FR0606’’ consists of the 

numbers ‘‘zero-six-zero-six,’’ with 

‘‘Brazil, Czech Republic, Pakistan Outof-Cycle Review’’ in the subject line, or 

(ii) by fax, to (202) 395–9458, with a 

confirmation copy sent electronically to 

the e-mail address above. 

Public inspection of submissions: (1) 

Within one business day of receipt, nonconfidential submissions will be placed 

in a public file open for inspection at 

the USTR reading room, Office of the 

United States Trade Representative, 

Annex Building, 1724 F Street, NW., 

Room 1, Washington, DC. An 

appointment to review the file must be 

scheduled at least 48 hours in advance 

and may be made by calling Jacqueline 

Caldwell at (202) 395–6186. The USTR 

reading room is open to the public from 

10 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 

p.m., Monday through Friday. 

Christopher S. Wilson, 

Acting Assistant USTR for Intellectual 

Property and Innovation. 

[FR Doc. 07–4335 Filed 9–5–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W7–M 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

[Docket No. WTO/DS–27] 

WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding 

Regarding European Communities—

Regime for the Importation, Sale and 

Distribution of Bananas: Recourse by 

the United States to Article 21.5 of the 

DSU 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Office of the United 

States Trade Representative (‘‘USTR’’) is 

providing notice that at the request of 

the United States, the Dispute 

Settlement Body (‘‘DSB’’) of the World 

Trade Organization (‘‘WTO’’), has 

established a dispute settlement panel 

under the Marrakesh Agreement 

establishing the WTO to examine 

whether the European Communities 

(‘‘EC’’) has implemented the 

recommendations and rulings of the 

DSB in a dispute regarding the EC’s 

import regime for bananas. The request 

may be found at http://www.wto.org 

contained in a document designated at 

WT/DS27/83 (see also the similar 

request by Ecuador in the document 

WT/DS27/80). The DSB adopted the 

findings of the panel and Appellate 

Body in this proceeding on September 

25, 1997. The DSB ruled that the EC’s 

import regime for bananas was 

inconsistent with the EC’s obligations 

under the General Agreement on Tariffs 

and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) and the 

General Agreement on Trade in Services 

(‘‘GATS’’). An arbitrator appointed 

under Article 21.3 of the WTO 

Understanding on Rules and Procedures 

Governing the Settlement of Disputes 

(‘‘DSU’’) awarded the EC a ‘‘reasonable 

period of time’’ in which to come into 

compliance until January 1, 1999. 

Nearly a decade after the DSB made its 

original recommendations and rulings, 

the United States considers that the EC 

has failed to bring its import regime for 

bananas into compliance with its WTO 

obligation. USTR invites written 

comments from the public concerning 

the issues raised in this dispute. 

DATES: Although USTR will accept any 

comments received during the course of 

the dispute, comments should be 

submitted on or before September 21, 

2007 to be assured of timely 

consideration by USTR. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

submitted (i) electronically, to 

FR0718@ustr.eop.gov, with ‘‘EC 

Bananas (DS27)’’ in the subject line, or 

(ii) by fax, to Sandy McKinzy at (202) 

395–3640, with a confirmation copy 

sent electronically to the electronic mail 

address above, in accordance with the 

requirements for submissions set out 

below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marı ́a L. Paga ́n, Associate General 

Counsel, Office of the United States 

Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395–

7305. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USTR is 

providing notice that the United States 

has requested the establishment of a 

WTO dispute settlement compliance 

panel pursuant to the DSU. The Article 

21.5 panel, which will hold its meetings 

in Geneva, Switzerland, is expected to 

issue a report on its findings and 

recommendations by February 29, 2008. 

Prior WTO Proceedings 

On September 25, 1997, the DSB 

adopted its recommendations and 

rulings in a dispute brought by the 

United States, Ecuador, Guatemala, 

Honduras, and Mexico challenging the 

EC’s then existing import regime for 

bananas. The DSB ruled that the EC’s 

import regime for bananas was 

inconsistent with the EC’s obligations 

under the General Agreement on Tariffs 

and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) and the 

General Agreement on Trade in Services 

(GATS). An arbitrator appointed under 

Article 21.3 of the WTO Understanding 

on Rules and Procedures Governing the 

Settlement of Disputes (DSU) awarded 

the EC a ‘‘reasonable period of time’’ in 

which to come into compliance until 

January 1, 1999. At the end of the 

reasonable period of time, the EC 

implemented a first set of changes to the 

import regime for bananas that were 

found to perpetuate a discriminatory 

tariff-rate quota (‘‘TRQ’’) system and 

license-based system in breach of the 

GATT 1994 and the GATS. In November 

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51268 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 172 / Thursday, September 6, 2007 / Notices 

1999, the EC announced a second 

attempt to reform its banana regime, 

which would comprise a two-stage 

process involving a transition period 

during which a TRQ system would be 

applied with preferential access for 

African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) 

countries, after which a tariff-only 

regime would be introduced. The 

transition period was to end no later 

than January 1, 2006. This two-stage 

proposal was memorialized in separate 

understandings reached with the United 

States and Ecuador in April 2001. 

Documents related to this longstanding 

dispute are available in the USTR 

reading room and on the WTO Web site, 

http://www.wto.org. 

Article 21.5 Proceeding 

On January 1, 2006, the EC 

implemented a new import regime for 

bananas which consists of: (1) A zeroduty, 775,000 ton TRQ available only to 

bananas originating in ACP countries; 

and (2) an MFN duty of 176 euros per 

ton for all other bananas. 

The United States considers that the 

EC has failed to implement the DSB’s 

recommendations and rulings and that 

the EC’s regime remains inconsistent 

with its WTO obligations. The United 

States considers that the EC’s current 

import regime for bananas is: 

(1) Inconsistent with Article I of the 

GATT 1994 because it applies a zeroduty TRQ to imports of bananas 

originating in ACP countries in a 

quantity up to 775,000 tons but does not 

accord the same duty-free treatment to 

imports of bananas originating in all 

other WTO Members; and 

(2) Inconsistent with Article XIII of 

the GATT 1994—including Article 

XIII:1 and XIII:2—because it reserves the 

775,000 ton zero-duty TRQ for imports 

of bananas originating in ACP countries 

but does not provide access to this 

preferential TRQ to imports of bananas 

originating in non-ACP substantial or 

non-substantial supplying countries. 

Public Comment: Requirements for 

Submissions 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written comments concerning 

the issues raised in the dispute. 

Comments should be submitted (i) 

electronically, to FR0718@ustr.eop.gov, 

with ‘‘EC Bananas (DS27)’’ in the 

subject line, or (i) by fax, to Sandy 

McKinzy at (202) 395–3640, with a 

confirmation copy sent electronically to 

the electronic mail address above. 

USTR encourages the submission of 

documents in Adobe PDF format as 

attachments to an electronic mail. 

Interested persons who make 

submissions by electronic mail should 

not provide separate cover letters; 

information that might appear in a cover 

letter should be included in the 

submission itself. Similarly, to the 

extent possible, any attachments to the 

submission should be included in the 

same file as the submission itself, and 

not as separate files. 

Comments must be in English. A 

person requesting that information 

contained in a comment submitted by 

that person be treated as confidential 

business information must certify that 

such information is business 

confidential and would not customarily 

be released to the public by the 

commenter. Confidential business 

information must be clearly designated 

as such and ‘‘BUSINESS 

CONFIDENTIAL’’ must be marked at the 

top and bottom of the cover page and 

each succeeding page. Persons who 

submit confidential business 

information are encouraged to also 

provide a non-confidential summary of 

the information. 

Information or advice contained in a 

comment submitted, other than business 

confidential information, may be 

determine by USTR to be confidential in 

accordance with section 135(g)(2) of the 

Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155(g)(2)). 

If the submitter believes that 

information or advice may qualify as 

such, the submitter—

(1) Must clearly so designate the 

information or advice; 

(2) Must clearly mark the material as 

‘‘SUBMITTED IN CONFIDENCE’’ at the 

top and bottom of the cover page and 

each succeeding page; and 

(3) Is encouraged to provide a nonconfidential summary of the 

information or advice. 

Pursuant to section 127(e) of the 

URAA (19 U.S.C. 3537(e)), USTR will 

maintain a file on this dispute 

settlement proceeding, accessible to the 

public, in the USTR Reading Room, 

which is located at 1724 F Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20508. The public file 

will include non-confidential comments 

received by USTR from the public with 

respect to the dispute; if a dispute 

settlement panel is convened or in the 

event of an appeal from such a panel, 

the U.S. submissions, the submissions, 

or non-confidential summaries of 

submissions, received from other 

participants in the dispute; the report of 

the panel and, if applicable, the report 

of the Appellate Body. The USTR 

Reading Room is open to the public, by 

appointment only, from 10 a.m. to noon 

and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through 

Friday. An appointment to review the 

public file (Docket WTO/DS–27, EC 

Bananas Dispute) may be made by 

calling the USTR Reading Room at (202) 

395–6186. 

Daniel E. Brinza, 

Assistant United States Trade Representative 

for Monitoring and Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. 07–4341 Filed 9–5–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W7–M 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

[Docket No. WTO/DS350] 

WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding 

Regarding Measures Related to 

Zeroing and Certain Investigations, 

Administrative Reviews and Sunset 

Reviews Involving Products From the 

European Communities 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Office of the United 

States Trade Representative (‘‘USTR’’) is 

providing notice that the European 

Communities (‘‘EC’’) has requested the 

establishment of a panel under the 

Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the 

World Trade Organization (‘‘WTO 

Agreement’’). The EC alleges that 

various measures relating to zeroing and 

antidumping duty orders on certain 

products from the EC, and certain 

related matters, are inconsistent with 

Articles 1, 2.1, 2.4, 2.4.2, 5.8, 9.1, 9.3, 

9.5, 11, and 18.4 of the Agreement on 

Implementation of Article VI of the 

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 

1994 (‘‘AD Agreement’’), Article VI of 

the General Agreement on Tariffs and 

Trade 1994 (‘‘GATT 1994’’), and Article 

XVI:4 of the WTO Agreement. That 

request may be found at http:// 

www.wto.org contained in a document 

designated as WT/DS350/6. USTR 

invites written comments from the 

public concerning the issues raised in 

this dispute. In connection with the 

issues raised in the panel request, the 

public should be aware that on March 

6, 2006, the Department of Commerce 

announced that it will no longer use 

‘‘zeroing’’ when making average-toaverage comparisons in an antidumping 

investigation. See 71 FR 11189. 

DATES: Although USTR will accept any 

comments received during the course of 

the dispute settlement proceedings, 

comments should be submitted on or 

before October 26, 2007 to be assured of 

timely consideration by USTR. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

submitted (i) Electronically, to 

FR0702@ustr.eop.gov, Attn: ‘‘EC Zeroing 

II (DS350)’’ in the subject line, or (ii) by 

fax, to Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395–

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES